Andrea Rosebrock 
In August, when Animal Control Officer Brent W. Sellew arrived at 231 Stafford St., he found a 12 year old husky named Nikkia chained to a dilapidated wooden doghouse behind the apartment building. The poor dog was covered in flies and “in extreme pain because of maggot infestation, both externally and in the area of its anus, according to a report filed by Joseph L. Cadrin, an abuse and cruelty investigator for the Worcester Animal Rescue League”
The smell was so bad that Officer Sellow vomited.
Owners of Nikkia, Rebecca Cook and son, Arthur Mantham were in court this week to be sentenced for the horrific cruelty the dog suffered at their hands and it was yet another slap on the wrist sentence.
Although the animal cruelty charges against each of them could have carried a potential sentence of up to 5 years in state prison or up to 2-1/2 years in the House of Correction, and-or a fine of up to $2,500, it was Dudley District Court Judge Neil G. Snider’s decision that the charge was continued without a finding for 18 months with supervised probation.
Basically a “continued without a finding” is something like an Alford plea, no admittance of guilt but there is enough evidence that they could be found guilty. The case will be dismissed upon successful completion of probation. If it is not successfully completed, a hearing will be held and a judge could revoke the continuance, find them guilty and impose any sentence.
They also have to on a monthly basis, pay $65 or perform eight hours of community service and the community service cannot be associated with animal. On top of that, they also have an extra 25 hours each of community service, must pay $500 restitution to the Animal Rescue League for Nikkia’s hospitalization and treatment costs, and $90 each in victim-witness fees. They also cannot have to take care of any animals aside from a currently owned cat which can be checked on at any time.
Of course their lawyer complained that the sentence was too much and argued that it was a case of neglect rather than intentional harm. He said that client had suffered from all the hate mail and phone threats.
And I loved the come back from the Judge! Judge Snider asserted their suffering was “not as much as that dog suffered.”
I, of course, would have liked to have seen a harsher sentence but seldom do I ever expect it anymore. As far as probation sentences go though, this one is pretty good when you add it all up, especially that they cannot possess or care for animals.
“I don’t know what the public outcry is going to be,” Officer Cadrin said. “They want these people to go to jail. We can’t control that. It’s up to the court and judge, and I thought the judge was terrific today, putting the point across to them.”
Maybe not terrific, but I have definitely heard worse! What do you think?
Well,at least it’s something…I’m glad the community service will not involve animals….And I loved the judge’s response to the so-called “suffering” of these abusers too…”Oh BooHoo!!Poor me…Everybody knows I’m a piece of sh%$”….Too bad!!!You made your bed now lay in it you jerks…
Good come back from the Judge, but, the sentence is not enough. I only hope they violate their probation terms and get a real smack-down. Hey…I can dream, can’t I?
o yeah! dreaming is good. when IS the judicial system gonna WAKE UP?!!!!!!
Hopefully some day it will be a reality, not just a dream! I did love the comeback from the Judge though! Just wish the sentence had fit the crime. So how is Nikkia doing these days? Has he recovered and been rescued into a loving home, does anyone know?
@Barbara Trimble – If memory serves, I believe this poor baby was euthanized….Which makes this wrist slap even harder to take…I could be wrong…But it seems like that was the outcome…
i think in cases like this the judge should go to prison. just how much do the animals have to suffer before something is done!
i totally agree with ”lucky” the judge should been put in the dog’s place … then he won’t let this cruelty pass
I would love to chain these people outside, throw them some slop to eat, a water bowl mostly empty. And when the flies come, due to excrament, they would start on sores and lay eggs, then down to the anus where they would be fully full of fly eggs. Lets see how the people could handle that. Dogs are living beings and should be treated as such.
If public hanging was brought back, I’d volunteer to trip the trapdoor and I won’t wear a hood but a smile.
If not, no less than twelve months jail time for these people.
Those people should be chained up at an outdoor facility so they can go through the same pain as that poor dog.
I really do wonder what is wrong with people sometimes. It makes my head spin. You hear so much about animal cruelty. I can never understand why these people have animals.
While in my opinion, I don’t think the penalty was steep enough, it’s a start. I believe jail sentences needed to be handed down for the message to sink in what you do to your pet who is a living, breating member of your household that feels pain, fear, cold and hunger is going to come back to haunt you if you don’t treat it properly. But people today have no respect for all living things, including the human race.
The judges need a wake up call. I think people should write the judges in these cases and let them know that the abuser needs stiff sentences or be turned over to me for about five minutes!
That is such an awful thing. I can’t believe it when I hear stuff like that. Why do people do it?
Sad yet good post.
First time here… I subscribed to your blog via email.
Didn’t know anything was wrong. What a big load of crap.
He had eyes didn’t he?
it always amazes me to think that there are people out there without hearts.
The stories I hear on a daily basis,even though I think is impossible keep getting worse!What I can’t understand mostly is that peole think of it as no big deal because they’re animals.The truth is wether you love animals or not,the way animals are treated say alot about who we are as people and how we are likely to treat eachother.If we let people get away with abusing animals what is next?This is a sure sign of psycopathic behaviour and you don’t have to be a psychiatrist to diagnose it.Something drastic has to be done because aside from it being a gross injustice it is also just another domino toppling in the way we treat the planet!We are worry about the apocolypse coming from some exterior source but it is really us that is bringing it upon us and we don’t even see it!Why should we be saved from ourselves?This is why religion makes no sense.We are allowed to sin in any imaginable way then we just say I repent?It is a joke.
The most righteous people are hipocrits.There are so many religious people out there and yet where are they when it comes to important issues concerning the world?They are attacking eachother and talking about God’s word.Wake up and start doing God’s work instead of talking crap!
Well, unfortunately eyes and brains are obviously mutually exclusive… especially in some people!